We’re entrepreneurs too.

We know what it’s like to be up at 3 am obsessed with an idea. We’ve been operating and investing in early-stage companies for almost 20 years (yes, we’re getting old). We use everything we’ve learned, everyone we know, every resource at our disposal and our well-earned startup “spidey senses” to help amazing entrepreneurs build tomorrow’s great companies.

INVESTMENT PHILOSOPHY

We invest in people first, second and third. People that inspire us and inspire those around them. People with the passion and obsession to see their visions through to the end no matter what the obstacle.

We partner with founders when we believe their company, if successful, can return our entire fund and then some. If you have a better photo-sharing app and you’re looking to make a quick buck and flip your company, we’re not the firm for you. If you think in terms of billions and not millions, give us a call. If your family and friends think you’re crazy for leaving that super high paying safe job to work 24/7 because you’re obsessed about what you want to do – give us a call.

We meet many companies and founders each year. Some ring the startup tuning fork in our gut where the combination of team, market opportunity, product and timing combine to create a large value creation opportunity for both founders and investors. Those are the opportunities we gravitate to and when we all believe we can build a great company together, we invest and usually take a board seat. If only there were a more structured magic investment process formula but there isn’t.

By the way, we’re wrong all the time. It’s part of the gig. So if we say no it’s nothing personal and just know that we’ve been rejected many times before. Not everyone has the same vision of the future – and that’s ok.

INVESTMENT CRITERIA

STAGE
Through two separate funds we invest both early and later stage. We typically lead or co-lead early stage investments in companies post product launch where we can get early market feedback from customers or users. For later stage companies, we back complete management teams in companies at a ~$20M+ annual revenue run-rate and flexibility is the keyword. We tailor the round to the needs of the company without artificial constraints like minimum check size or minimum ownership and will consider secondary opportunities as part of our later stage investment focus.

SECTOR
A tight founding team applying technology to the confluence of macro trends to create or disrupt a big market. It’s a golden age of technology right now and we are all lucky to be living through it. There’s not a corner of the economy or any industry that will not be transformed by technology over the next twenty years.

GEOGRAPHY
Mostly New York Metro because it’s the fastest-growing market for innovation and we’ve spent our careers building companies here. Plus we like to maximize our value to entrepreneurs by being nearby. We go to board meetings…yes…but it’s more about jumping on the subway and working the whiteboard together. Having said that, we have ventured out occasionally (cheesy pun intended) but the bar is higher once you force Chip to get on a plane. We currently do not invest in companies based outside of the United States.

INVESTMENT SIZE
Initial check sizes of $1 to $8 million if you're early and we find ourselves typically leading rounds of $3 to $15 million in size. For growth stage companies, it's more like $5 to $30 million, all depending on stage, sector, capital needs and our circadian rhythms on the day you ask, etc.